I Have a Confession To Make (We Got AC)

Remember how, earlier this summer, I gave you a big long post on how to keep your house somewhat-cool without air conditioning?  And I said that we’d probably get an air conditioner “someday”?

Well.  That “someday” came during the last week of June, when we had that week of record-setting high temperatures and the smoke from the fire was so thick you didn’t want to open up your house at all, ever.

We spent a pretty much miserable weekend at home and the next Monday morning, Jeremy had called the HVAC guy to see about getting an air conditioner installed.

It was installed that Thursday, and we have never been so pleased with a large purchase!  It has given us a new outlook on our lives – or at least a new outlook on summer.  We can actually sleep again!  And not spend all evening trying to cool off the house!  And we haven’t once eaten out just because it was too hot to cook!  And Jeremy and I can both work productively at home again!  And relax at home when we aren’t working!

Of course, everyone says “Oh, it’s nice until you get the utility bill!  Then you won’t run it!” so every time I heard the thing cycle on for the first couple of weeks, I felt the money leaving our bank account.  And then we got the bill, and it was about $50 more than it would have been without running the air conditioner.  Fifty dollars.  Not pocket change, by any means, but worth it to us.

Obviously, what it costs you to run will depend on the unit you get, the energy efficiency of your house, and what temperature you keep it at; but for us, it cost us about $50 extra to run during July.  We keep it at 74 during the day and 71 at night and still keep the curtains closed most of the day.

We haven’t opened the windows or run the whole-house fan since getting AC, since once the air conditioner has cooled off the house, it doesn’t have to run much to maintain 71-74 if it’s that cool outside.  (But it would run if we sucked in too much warm air.)

We’ve also bought magnetic vent covers and put those over the vents in the basement and bathrooms, which don’t need AC, so I think that probably helps with the cost.  (They were $5 for a package of three at Lowe’s, which had more than enough for three vents – they are large and you cut them down to size.)

I’m not here to tell you that $50 a month is “nothing” and that you should by all means go out and spend a few thousand on an air conditioner no matter how much or little money you have.  But I am here to (a) confess that we got an air conditioner and (b) let you know how much it’s costing us to run since that was kind of the “unknown”. :) If we sell our home during the summertime, we’ll probably get back the cost of the installation in the purchase price of the home.

So, that’s my confession.  I kind of felt bad when I published the post about keeping your house cool without air conditioner and then Jeremy scheduled us to get AC a week later, so I had to update you lest you think I was such a perfect angel for never complaining about the heat.  Ha! :)